Man charged with murder

By DEBORAH CEARNALClay County Line,

A new Clay County grand jury has indicted an Orange Park man on a first-degree murder charge.

Cecil Bradley Mathews has been jailed without bond since Dec. 13, when he was arrested in the shooting death of his wife, Natalie, 34. He had been charged with second-degree murder. The indictment was handed down Monday.

Mathews, 36, reported the death on Dec. 5, telling officers his wife was killed during a scuffle with him.

He told investigators he followed her to a hotel room, where he accused her of having an affair. They returned home and argued, with him threatening to take their children because of her alleged infidelity. He said he went into the master bedroom, where he found his wife holding a small-caliber gun. She shot at him, then they struggled for possession of the gun. She was shot in the chest, Mathews told investigators. He left the room and heard another shot, he said.

The story, however, didn't match the crime scene, according to detectives. An autopsy showed Natalie Mathews was shot on the right side of her neck, but she is left-handed. The wound "did not appear to be self-inflicted according to the medical examiner's office," Detective Marty Cotchaleovitch wrote in his affidavit for the arrest warrant. Additionally, Natalie Mathews was able to call 911 and tell dispatchers she was dying, then the connection ended, the warrant says. Cecil Mathews called three minutes later to report the incident.

The children, ages 7 and 8, are with relatives.

The first-degree charge allows prosecutors to seek the death penalty but also calls for life in prison without parole. Assistant State Attorney Dan Skinner was not available to comment.

Mathews' arraignment on the upgraded charge is planned for May 11.

Also in court:

A Clay County jury on Thursday found a Jacksonville man guilty of shooting a former University of Florida and Miami Dolphins football player in the back.

James Poitier, 35, faces 25 years to life in prison for the assault on Jarvis Williams of Palatka in the parking lot of a bar on Blanding Boulevard in August. Poitier hit Williams when he was firing the gun at another person he previously had been fighting with.

Assistant State Attorney Bobby Lippelman, who prosecuted the case, said the former athlete sustained a broken rib and bruised lungs from the bullet. A piece is lodged in Williams' clavicle, Lippelman said. Williams is not permanently disabled but does have "ongoing suffering," the attorney said.